Pink Panther, The - The tall, skinny pink jungle cat  first seen in the opening credits of the motion picture The Pink Panther (1963). Created by David DePatie and Fritz Freleng, the Pink Panther (who walked upright and never spoke) is an animated representation of a priceless gem (with a pink flaw in its center) sought by the Phantom, a jewel thief pursued throughout the film by the inept Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers). The success of the film inspired the sequels A Shot in the Dark (1964) [no Pink Panther in this one], The Return of the Pink Panther (1975); The  Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976); Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978); Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983). The opening credits of The Pink Panther Strikes Again (considered the funniest of the films) finds our pink prankster imitating such movie legends as Buster Keaton, Bela Lugosi, George Raft, Gene Kelly and the Spielberg shark from Jaws (1975). In 1964 DePatie-Freleng created a series of Pink Panther cartoon shorts for the movie theaters beginning with The Pink Phink. Later in 1969, the character got his own animated television cartoon show starting with THE PINK PANTHER SHOW/NBC/1969 followed by THE NEW PINK PANTHER SHOW/NBC/1971, THE PINK PANTHER LAFF AND A HALF-HOUR/NBC/1976, PINK PANTHER MEETS ANTS AND THE AARDVARK/NBC/1976; THE PINK PANTHER AND FRIENDS/NBC/1977; THE THINK PINK PANTHER SHOW!/NBC/1978, THE ALL-NEW PINK PANTHER SHOW/ABC/1978, and PINK PANTHER AND SONS/NBC/ABC/1984-86. The Pink Panther has also appeared as the commercial mascot for Owens Corning, a major manufacturer of pink fiberglass insulation. The Pink Panther theme music (first heard in the 1963 movie) was written by Henry Mancini. In the 1990s a new PINK PANTHER cartoon series showcased a new and improved Pink Panther. This one could talk (voice of Matt Frewer).